The Roles of Community Interpreters in War Zones: Iraq as an example

Abstract

Taking into consideration the problems, dangers and challenges they faced, the overall aim of this paper is to advance a clear picture of the interpreting situation and the roles played by community interpreters in war zones namely in Iraq. It draws upon the results of questionnaires sent to more than 30 interpreters who worked for the coalition forces during the 2003 war in Iraq. Now they are living in Iraq and some other foreign countries they immigrated to. It is also based on a number of letters of recommendations given to these interpreters during their work with the military. The paper tries also to prove that interpreters adopted other roles other than the linguistic ones. They were given a multiplicity of tasks to help facilitate the military missions.